1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to a machine and a method for forming elongated material pieces into a generally curved configuration, for example for bakery products, such as croissants.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
Dough handling machines have become sophisticated in recent years, but generally the machines relate primarily to the panning of dough pieces for buns and the like. The forming of intricate shapes still is largely a manual task. Moving dough pieces along conveyor belts during processing is well known, but to date forming curved pieces such as for croissants, even though they are not twisted about their longitudinal axes, has not been accomplished. Because of the competitive nature of fast food chains in particular, reduction in labor costs for handling large quantities of such formed bakery products is desirable.